Why more engineers should consider researching to progress more in their careers

Engineers who learn how to quickly and efficiently solve problems grow more in their careers. Their careers go further and progress faster.

And solving problems is a creative endeavour, relying on knowledge and experience. Experience will come on the job, with time. But the best of new knowledge has to be researched.

Many of us think of research as a purely academic task, not relevant to what we might be doing in the industry and almost never part of our day to day jobs. That's why we might get stuck at some challenges more than others.

It is a skill to hunt a new piece of information that explains a new insight.

Others seem to be always abreast of new information and newer ways of working. Constantly ready to evolve. These are the outliers that carry out exploration and seem to be able to introduce new concepts.

Researching starts with curiosity, in some of us inherent and in most times triggered by a problem or objective you are trying to address. You look for existing solutions and relevant information. You organise your findings and relate them to each other, perhaps in comparison to identify trends you could learn more from.

These learnings become valuable insights.

You have to follow the other researchers, experts, and network with them and other engineers. Professional communities are one of the best uses of today's connected world. You will always find people who are passionate about sharing knowledge with others.

The best engineers are the ones always researching something new.

The more you research, the more you learn. And the more you learn, the more your brain grows its ability to reorganise new information and adopt new perspectives.

And the most successful people exhibit cognitive flexibility, openness to new experiences and empathy. All by-products of curiosity and researching.

If you become a researcher, you can solve more complex problems. You know the up-to-date methods. You open doors to opportunities others may never see.

If you can learn and adopt researching skills, then you embody the real spirit of engineering and what it is really about: The ability of solving new problems.

What are you currently researching as an engineer? Tell me in the comments.

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